The present invention relates generally to electronic apparatuses, and more particularly to an electrostatic discharge prevention mechanism applicable to an electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatuses to which the present invention is applicable may include information storage devices, personal computers (PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), digital cameras, various types of card readers, expansion bays, and the like.
A storage medium and a storage device are a typical combination of the electronic apparatuses in which one element is not made available for use until mounted in the other element; to be specific, a storage medium (e.g., floppy disk, and optical disk) is mounted in a storage device (e.g., floppy disk drive or FDD, and optical disk drive), and put in commission.
The storage device generally includes a built-in drive (or drive body), and an insulating external housing that can accommodate the drive body. The drive body is secured in the external housing directly or via mounting members, and connected with a host processor (e.g., desktop PC) through the housing. The storage device using a USB or IEEE1394 interface further includes a printed circuit board for connecting with a cable to interface the drive body with the host processor. The external housing is comprised of a PC body housing when the storage device is built in the desktop PC, and of an external case when the storage device is an external device. The drive body and the external housing, each having an inlet for receiving a storage medium, generally assume the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped having an opening at a side of the drive body from which the storage medium is inserted.
Characteristically, a user mounts a storage medium in the storage device by inserting the storage medium from the inlet on a front panel of the storage device and pushing a rear end portion of the storage medium in with a forefinger, or the like. The drive body includes a drive system that drives the mounted storage medium to rotate.
The front panel is an insulating member having an inlet, which is always open or includes an openable/closable door. The front panel is provided either on the drive body or on the external housing. For instance, the front panel of the storage device built in the desktop PC is mounted on the drive body. In this instance, the front panel attached onto the drive body is fitted in an opening of the external housing, when the drive body is mounted in the PC body (external housing). On the other hand, as for the external storage device, generally the external case includes the front panel. The front panel may be integrally configured with the external case. In this instance, the drive body stays open in the external housing.
However, no sufficient measures are adopted to prevent electrostatic discharge for a drive body in a conventional storage device. As described above, the external housing and the front panel are made of insulating materials such as plastic, or the like, but the drive body and the mounting members are generally made of metal. Therefore, when the inlet on the front panel is opened, a metal portion in the drive body is exposed in principle; thus, sparking, which may occur through a user""s fingertip, metal portion of the storage medium, or the like having static electricity, would disadvantageously fly to circuit components in the housing, whereby the components are prone to malfunction. Moreover, the storage device using a USB or other interfaces would disadvantageously suffer destruction of the printed circuit board for the interface through the electrostatic discharge.
As a remedy for the above disadvantages, several means such as a frame grounding method and a signal grounding method have been proposed to prevent damage due to electrostatic discharge. The frame grounding method includes a means for preventing transmission of a noise derived from electrostatic discharge between the devices, or inside or outside the devices, such as a shield of an interface cable for connection between devices, or the like. On the other hand, the signal grounding method is a means for supplying a reference potential to an electric signal system, such as a direct current power supply at 0V, a ground layer in the printed circuit board, a ground pattern, or the like. However, these means are for the purpose of minimizing the problems caused by the electrostatic discharge, and are not intended to directly solve the above disadvantages. Particularly, the signal grounding method varies in great complexity with the interface structures (i.e., the presence or absence of the printed circuit board, or a structure thereof), and thus the conventional signal grounding method could not effectively protect various interfaces from the electrostatic discharge.
In order to effectively protect the drive body and the like from damages due to the electrostatic discharge, a static preventive means before the electrostatic discharge occurs is preferable to a static protective or dissipative means after the electrostatic discharge has occurred. On the other hand, however, the drive system for the drive body needs to be made of metal member having superiority in strength, working accuracy, and thermal conductivity, and similarly the printed circuit board also needs metal wiring. Consequently, it turned out that metal members likely to produce electrostatic discharge could not completely be eliminated from the drive body and the like.
Therefore, it is an exemplified object of the present invention to provide a novel and useful electronic apparatus that can easily and inexpensively prevent destruction of electronic components due to electrostatic discharge, to ensure high durability and reliability.
In order to achieve the above objects, an exemplified embodiment of the inventive electronic apparatus is an electronic apparatus including an opening through which a storage medium is inserted into and ejected from the apparatus, and includes a conductive member disposed around the storage medium that is inserted, and an insulating member provided at least near the opening on a surface of the conductive member facing the storage medium. This electronic apparatus is provided with the insulating member, which was previously not provided, and thus more impervious to electronic discharge. The opening is a concept that may be embodied in an inlet.
Another embodiment of the inventive electronic apparatus comprises a storage part that stores and holds a drive body including an opening through which a storage medium is inserted into and ejected from the drive body, and an insulating member provided at least on an end portion of the storage part near the opening. This electronic apparatus has the insulating member, which was previously not provided, coupled with the storage part, and is thus more impervious to electronic discharge.
An exemplified embodiment of the inventive mounting member comprises a support part that supports a drive body including an opening through which a storage medium is inserted into and ejected from the drive body, so as to mount the drive body in a housing capable of accommodating the drive body, and an insulating member provided at least on a portion of the support part near the opening. This mounting member is also impervious to electronic discharge as the above electronic apparatus.